1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to the field of sports training and practice devices for projectile games, and more specifically to a tethered or orbital batting practice device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In baseball or softball, a great deal of skill goes into a batter controlling the ball. Based on the pitch and which bases are loaded, the direction and speed of the hit must vary. In order for a batter to have accurate control of the ball, the batter must have experience with pull and push hitting, and be able to exert control independent of ball location. Participating in the sport undoubtedly increases experience and skill, but in a slow, labor intensive, and uncontrolled way. In other words, there is a significant amount of time required by a pitcher to prepare for and complete a pitch, and then only some of the pitches will be in the batter's strike zone. To most quickly and efficiently gain experience with the different styles of pitches, batters will preferably have repeatable practice, preferably without the delays that arise from a human pitcher.
With this goal in mind, various batting practice machines have been designed. One particularly common type is a batting cage, which is a large, often rectangular, fully fenced area having an automatic pitching machine at one longitudinal end. Distal thereto, a batter stands ready for the pitching machine to fire balls. More elaborate machines are capable of varying the speed and spin of the balls, to more accurately emulate real pitches. As might be appreciated, these types of machines and fencing are quite expensive, and the land space required is relatively large. In addition, these machines may, like a human pitcher, occasionally misfire. While many of these misfires are harmless, in such event a momentary lapse in attention or concentration on the part of the batter can lead to a hazardous impact of the ball against the batter. While such simulations may be relatively realistic, a safe practice apparatus is much preferred for most batting practice.
Batting practice is also commonly obtained using balls supported upon a large tee. This apparatus is relatively safe for an inexperienced batter to use, and has thereby gained much popularity with relatively young baseball players. Over the years this practice aid has evolved, and entire leagues of tee ball have formed. However, as may be appreciated, the ball is entirely static. Consequently, other than learning the most rudimentary of swing fundamentals, a tee is quite limited in developing complete and sound batting techniques. As may be appreciated, depending upon the type of pitch such as a fastball, slider, or curve ball, and also upon the intended direction of the hit, different swings will be required for different pitches in order to gain the best hit. Furthermore, once a ball is hit from the tee, it must be retrieved before it can be struck again. The ball may also still hit objects which are consequently damaged or broken (e.g. windows and cars). So, without a cage or net enclosing the tee, significant time will be lost retrieving balls, and safety of any individuals or objects within the travel distance of the ball may be compromised. To further improve the safety and time associated with a batting tee, whiffle balls are sometimes used that are hollow balls having a plurality of holes passing therethrough. These balls lose velocity extremely rapidly traveling through the air, and generally do not have sufficient mass or hardness to cause any significant harm to surroundings. Unfortunately, between the tee and the whiffle ball, there is little resembling an actual baseball batting session that remains.
Batting practice machines have also been devised that are composed of balls on sticks or strings that pivot or rotate in such a manner which allows them to be hit again, such as those illustrated in prior art patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,110 by Hai-Ping, entitled “Ball-hitting training device;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,549 by Vasquez, entitled “Ball-hitting practice device;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,914 by Cooksey, entitled “Triple-adjustable height batting practice device;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,979 by Zarate, entitled “Baseball batting practice device;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,788 by Shy et al, entitled “Shock-absorbable ball practice device;” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,589 and U.S. Pat. No. Des 393,029 by Koo et al, entitled “Batting practice machine for baseball;” the contents and teachings of each which are incorporated herein by reference. The string mounted balls offer immediate and clear feedback in whether the direction of impact was proper. Unfortunately, these apparatus slow down the practice session, since it may take some time for the ball and string to reset from an errant hit, and they require substantial space from adjacent objects, since there is little other than the length of the string or rope to limit how far from the hitting location the ball may travel. In other words, if the ball is on a three foot string, there should not be anything within three feet in any direction which could be harmed by the ball. One obvious shortcoming is that the batter will typically be within the range of the string, and so an errant hit may not only send the ball on an errant path, but this path could also be dangerous to either the batter or those around him. The prior art also lacks the combination of repeatable variability in the direction of the object to be hit combined and repeatable variability in the style of hits. Two patents, U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,555 by Jer-Min, entitled “Gravitationally restored ball practice device;” and U.S. Pat. No. 3,118,670 by Smith, entitled “Baseball batting practice device;” the contents which are also incorporated herein by reference, illustrate this well. These patents both illustrate horizontal axis rotary batting practice devices. As may be appreciated, these devices provide a ball or ball-like object terminating a relatively rigid rod extending radially from the horizontal axis. This facilitates relatively predictable batting practice for pitches that vary by spin, such as a fastball, curve ball, and slider, but all will remain a consistent and predictable distance from the batter. Furthermore, it is somewhat more difficult than desired to vary the simulation of types of pitches with either of these batting practice apparatus.
Additional documents which illustrate various batting practice aids, the contents of each which are incorporated herein by reference, include: U.S. Pat. No. 3,767,198 by Boyer, entitled “Batting practice device and method;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,634 by Boyer, entitled “Tethered ball batting practice device;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,950 by Visockis, entitled “Baseball batting practice apparatus;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,694 by Domroski, entitled “Batting practice kit;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,684 by Rocha, entitled “Batting practice device for baseball;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,375 by Tetreault, entitled “Baseball batting practice device;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,343 by D'Ambrosio, entitled “Apparatus for baseball batting practice;” U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,051 by Hansberry, entitled “Practice equipment;” and U.S. Pat. No. Des 486,197 by Marshall, entitled “Batting aid.” In addition, Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition copyright 1983, is incorporated herein by reference in entirety for the definitions of words and terms used herein.